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5 year old chocolate lab needing a home.

1K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  mjcraig15 
#1 ·
I have a 5 year old chocolate lab that I originally got to hunt with me. With the little kids and other things, I never got around to fully training her. She retrieves things in the yard great, but you have to walk out with her to get ducks, and she is scared of the live ones. :lol3: Oh well. She is a nice dog. Still hyper, but I haven't met a younger lab that wasn't.

In the last year, she developed a nasty skin rash. Turned out to be a persistent staph infection. She was treated last summer, and it went away for a little bit, but came back this December. She has been on antibiotics for 7 weeks now, and the vet wants her on them for another 6 weeks at least. The hair is starting to grow back where she had chewed her skin raw, and from a skin point of view it looks like we are winning the battle.

The real issue now is a sudden aggression that developed. She is not spayed, and is currently going through a false pregnancy that started around december. She is lactating now. We also have a miniature pinscher. The two of them grew up together and always got along great. Suddenly, the Lab turned on the min pin. She got her by the throat, and I was able to get the min pin free. This past Saturday the lab got the min pin by the bottom jaw and ripped her jaw open. I was able to pull the labs jaws apart while my wife got the min pin free, and she is ok. These two dogs can't be near each other anymore because the min pin attacks the lab at first sight and the lab tries to finish it and will if she gets the chance.

The lab has never shown aggression toward any people and the vet said it is unlikely that she will, but our only options are to spend $400 dollars a session with a behavior specialist (ain't going to happen), Put her to sleep, take her to a no kill shelter (they are all full and will not accept her), or put her in a new home.

I hate to put a 5 year old lab to sleep, but that is pretty much where it is at if we can't find someone to take her. At this point, she is pretty much a pet. She knows basic commands, heal, sit, stay (needs some work on this one, but does it well if worked regularly).

I/We plan on keeping her on the meds for a while to try and find a new home for her, but there is a limit to how long as she currently has to be locked in the utility room in the basement to keep her from killing the other dog, or kept outside. She is on a grain free diet as was suggested by the vet. The staph could have came about from an allergy.

This is a tough one to find a home for. It would have to be another pet free home and someone willing to take care of her from a skin issue. (it might clear up, but we are unsure of the exact original cause at this point) .

Figured this would be a good place to post this. If you are interested, or know of a good home willing to take her, please shoot me a pm.
 
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#2 ·
Sounds like a bad situation ! Seems your reluctant to put her down , but it might be the best thing ? When I was single I had a male Lab that was aggrasive , but we lived by ourselves out in the country and kepted him penned up when we weren't excersing , training or hunting. He was one of the best dogs I've ever had in the field , but I'd never give my troubles to someone else . Her beening 5 years old really isn't all that young , more like middle aged and her not beening trained would be too much work for the average person .
 
#3 ·
BigMuddy said:
Sounds like a bad situation ! Seems your reluctant to put her down , but it might be the best thing ? When I was single I had a male Lab that was aggrasive , but we lived by ourselves out in the country and kepted him penned up when we weren't excersing , training or hunting. He was one of the best dogs I've ever had in the field , but I'd never give my troubles to someone else . Her beening 5 years old really isn't all that young , more like middle aged and her not beening trained would be too much work for the average person .
Yeah don't really want to put her down, but it is getting to that point. Between having six and Two year old kids, i just don't have the time or resources to handle the aggression issues. She would need to go to a home with no other animals. It's a bad situation. Had a lab or German Shepard my whole life and never had the aggression with one before and for as sudden as it came on, it's just hard to pinpoint any one thing that may have caused it.
 
#5 ·
Yeah it has always been a concern about the kids. She has never shown any aggression towards the kids, or any person for that matter. The vet said it is highly unlikely that she would be aggressive towards the kids at this point. He said she would have already shown the aggression towards them. That being said, she is a dog, and you never do know. My daughter climbs on her and plays with her any chance she gets, and the dog doesn't seem phased in the least bit. Just licks her. I have to admit even though she has never shown any aggression towards the kids, that is a driving factor in us trying to either relocate her or put her down.
 
#6 ·
Sometimes its the little things that will start them being that away, or they were born like that . I was young and hadn't train many dogs back when I had that Lab . He was the Alpha Male of the litter and since he was 11 weeks old he had an attitude problem . Remember one time he got up on the bed at about 11 weeks old and he showed his teeth and growled at me when I picked him up off the bed --- :rolleyes: --- . He was allways a one man dog and allmost everytime I corrected him he'd do the same thing ! Funny thing is he trained fairly easy and was spot on all blind retrieves , hand and whistle commands , guess he just didn't like being told twice on what too do ? I've got 6 grandkids and I wife now and couldn't have a dog like that around anymore.
 
#8 ·
Craig if he was intact AKC reg. Male I'd maybe have taking it if things were different, for breeding to my Choc AKC reg Female . She's fixed now , and I've got a family around and I can't risk it .A Five year old it might take to training ok , but never as well as a pup or a dog under 2 years old. If it isn't neutered that might help calm it down some if it was ?
 
#9 ·
i have a bluetick, ukc pkc, and a grnt chp walker, if it doesnt tree **** or pick up ducks, or tree squirrels, it will still make a good garbage disposal right? i wish i had the room, i would take her and work with her, my kennels are full with the two coonhounds, but best of luck with her... maybe try craigslist? i bt someone would like her for a pet! she sounds pet worthy enough, and i doubt she will ever show agression to people, simple fact being the agression she is showing now is either 1 of 3 things, 1 she is in a bad mood because of the skin condition (least likely), 2 the medicine is affecting her behavior (more likely, but still not that much) or 3 she has hormornal issues with the false preg. and everything (most likely) or a combination.
 
#10 ·
Jack same here , if I had a bigger place and room for more animals I'd have a lot more . Animal capacity is full at my house , plus not the time to train another dog , I'm still training the 9 month old pup. My nieghbor has a year old Black and Tan you might get free if they don't keep it quite , they don't run it or train it or hunt it , so why have a **** Dog ? I told her I'd take it hunting , but she was worried about little baby-- :rolleyes:
 
#11 ·
Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input. We are still just kind of waiting it out right now, but the way it is looking now is that she is going to be put to sleep. Hate to do it as my kids love both of the dogs, but I can't punish the min pin as she hasn't done anything and it was my wife's Bday present 6 years ago. I will be in the dog house if I did anything with the min pin. Happy wife, Happy Home.
 
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